Little Red
by DarkRumurs
Summary: A twist on the classic tale May,or as everyone in her village calls her, Little Red, is on a mission to save her little brother from the wolf. But what she finds is much more than what she expected. Rated: awesome for CONTESTSHIPPING: love and evil curses
1. Chapter 1

**Little Red**

** Chapter 1**

"It's okay May, you're okay.", came the meek whisper of a small brunette. She was trying her best to comfort herself. She was deep in the Dark Forest, and all alone, she was frightened but she didn't let that stop her. So why was this small girl in the Dark Forest, by herself, you ask? She was obviously frightened, her small body quivering slightly and her big blue eyes darting back and forth searching the scenery for any potential danger. But you see the girl had no choice, _it_ had taken her little brother, Max. He was just a small boy of only ten years and he was always a sickly child too so of course the girl had to look out for him.

The girl walked through the woods, strands of brown hair clinging to the side of her face, as she slowly made her way deeper into the forest. The girl's name was May, May Maple, a local girl from the village near the Dark Forest. Everyone in the village knew her because she would always go around helping everyone and she was also famous for her red cape that she always wore. It was a deep red color, not too bright, but not as dark burgundy and it had a hood with a white ring at the top. Because May would always be seen wearing the red cape everyone in town gave her the nickname 'Little Red'.

So this once again brings us back to the question of why May, or Little Red as most call her, was out and about in the Dark Forest by herself. Well you see, the village next to the Dark Forest has been terrorized by a wolf for centuries, every full moon the wolf claims a victim. So why didn't the villagers just move away? Well you see the soil near the forest was extremely nourished, and crops grew twice as fast and twice as big. The temptation to grow more crops and earn more money had kept the villagers there; however the only one in the village to get rich was the Duke who owned the piece of land. He taxed the villagers so much so that despite the great productivity most of the villagers lived, well, like villagers. They didn't have anything lavish but, they did have enough to go on by and still afford _some_ extra things. But enough of that, as I was saying, the forest is the home of a wolf, and by now you can guess the wolf is no ordinary wolf, if it was then there would be no way it would still be alive for centuries.

That night had been a full moon and Max, May's little brother had become the 'sacrifice', which was decided on by the town unanimously. It was decided that because he was sick and would not be of use to the village he would be the one to be given up that night. May's parents pleaded and begged, but it was to no avail, they had protected Max for so long, but they could not any longer. So May went after her little brother, escaping from her watchful parents and the villagers, she snuck out into the forest.

May was frightened, unsure what might come out from those thick trees, she knew partly what awaited her, but not many have ventured into the forest, and those who have never came back alive to tell of what they witnessed in the forest. As May crept deeper and deeper into the woods she felt cold, angry eyes stare at her from the darkness, but couldn't see anything. All she had was a small lantern that she took with her to light her way. May wasn't sure what she was looking for, just any sort of clue to find her little brother, and what would she do once she found him? Well that part she wasn't sure of, actually she wasn't sure about any of the details, she just knew she _had_ to get her little brother back.

May had been walking all night with only the full moon and her lantern guiding her, eventually she stumbled upon a sight she couldn't believe. There in the middle of the forest was a castle! May quickly made her way over to the castle, as quietly as possible she pushed the door open just a crack. The opening was small but it allowed the little girl to enter in easily. The castle was cold and dark, and there were spider webs everywhere, it didn't look like it had been inhabited for a long time. May stood by the door waving her hand that held the lantern around slowly to shed light on the area in front of her. The lantern's light had found a staircase not too far from where May was standing. Seeing nowhere else to go, May climbed up the long staircase, making sure not to make a single noise. Being in the castle scared poor May, she felt something was not right.

At the end of the staircase was a long hallway and lots of rooms. One particular room had light spilling out from it. May crept over to the room and saw the wolf; it was sitting there with its eyes fierce and full of anger. On a closer look May saw that the wolf had was chained against the wall and couldn't move, its face was muzzled. But who would have the power to chain the wolf like that, May would have walked in feeling it was alright since the wolf was chained down however a voice from within the room stopped the brunette.

"Good work, my little pet.", came the creepy, high pitched voice. May could only see a shadow cast onto the wall, and not the person who cast it. The person seemed to be talking to the wolf, which surprised May. _The wolf is someone's pet? So that means someone else is behind the whole disappearing of villagers_, May thought to herself.

"Wh-who are you? And what do you want from me?" came a very scared and meek voice, the voice was familiar to May. It was her little brother Max, and he was alive. She was relieved, but now she had to get him out of there.

"_Who_ am I?" came the cracked high pitch voice again, and then a crackle was hear, "kekekeke, _I _am the one who will be stealing your youth to keep my eternal youth in place." And with that May heard a loud noise and a cry for help from Max. As much as May wanted to rush into the room and stop whatever evil and cruel thing that was being done to Max, May found herself paralyzed with fear. The voice from the room was so frightening that it had sent shivers down her back, that along with the fact of the wolf being the pet of whoever was in the room was too much for May. Before long the loud sound stopped and the bright lights that had appeared along with it had faded. The same evil crackle was heard and May realized she needed to move away from the door. Finding a corner May huddled into it, out of sight from the mysterious stranger. May was not able to catch a glimpse of the person that had left the room, all she could do was huddle into the corner and hug her legs, keeping them close to her chest. May was filled with fear and was shaking badly. She was in no state to move from her spot. Whatever happened to Max, it was now too late, rushing into the room and putting herself in danger was not going to change what happened Max.

As May sat there tears fell from her eyes, she was crying, and she couldn't stop. Her body quivering from both the cold of the dark castle and from freight of what she had witnessed, she sat there rocking back and forth. May thought about her mother and father, and of how because of her foolishness they had now lost two children. She thought about her life in the village, how she would play with her little brother and keep him company because he had always been too sickly to go out and play with the other children. Before May was even aware of it, the exhaustion from the events that unfolded that day had overwhelmed the small blue eyed girl. She fell asleep in the little corner, still clutching her legs and holding them close to her chest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Little Red**

_**Chapter 2**_

May opened her eyes slowly; she was sluggish and muddled, unsure of where exactly she was. Then all the memories of what had happened the day before flooded back to her. Realizing she had fallen asleep in the castle, May quickly looked around, and to her relief there was no one there. Slowly she made her way back over to the room from the previous night and peeking in through the crack left by the unclosed door May was surprised to find that there was no wolf inside. That couldn't be possible, if the wolf was free, surely it would have found her sleeping in the corner.

Gathering up her courage, May slowly shoved the door open, enough to let herself in. She winced when the door made a slight creaking noise and froze, waiting to see if the noise had disturbed anyone. She continued on after several seconds of no response. May slipped into the room, her blue eyes scanning the area. There wasn't much in the room, a chair, a window, a bookcase full stone busts…May quickly looked back at the bookcase. Moving over to it, May took a closer look at the statues, they were all so life like, the expressions of pain and fear were quite visible. Moving along the rows of statue busts May came upon a familiar face to her shock. There was one of her little brother, Max. He looked so scared from his expression, and May didn't know how to respond. She had found her little brother, but surely he couldn't still be alive in that form. May looked around for a basket of some sort, but finding none she took off her red cape. Placing the bust of her little brother carefully into the hood of her cape, May wrapped the rest of the cape around it and tied a knot to carry the cape about as a bag.

Just as soon as she finished May heard a noise from the corner of the room. She hadn't really paid much attention to the corner because from a quick glance of the room she saw that there was only a pile of clothing there. May looked over and saw the most handsome face her blue eyes had ever laid on. The boy looked to be about two or three years older than May herself, the pile of clothes May had noticed before were the ones he had been wearing. Groggily, the boy sat up right, rubbing the back of his head.

_Maybe he's that witch's next victim._ May thought to herself, recalling the words the person from the room had said the previous night. May moved closer to the boy, her heart beating quite quickly and when he opened his eyes to reveal green orbs as stunning as his green locks, May's heart beat quickened even more. Butterflies began to churn in her stomach and May became speechless. The boy on the other hand didn't seem to be feeling what May was feeling, rather he seemed quite annoyed with the girl's presence.

"_Who_ are you? What are you doing _here_?" he snapped at her. This made May take a step back.

"I'm May, it's nice to meet you." May said in a soft voice.

"I don't really care who you are, do you know where you are? Get out of here now, before _he_ comes back." the green haired boy hissed at her. May was getting agitated by the boy, how dare he speak to her in that manner when she was just trying to help him out.

"Listen, I'm just trying to help you out. If you stay here you'll get eaten by the wolf." May huffed at the boy.

"Help _me_?" the boy scoffed, "You can't do anything to help me. Save yourself, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

May glared at the boy, she had never met such a impertinent boy in her life. As she glared at him, May realized there were chains attached to his arms and legs. _He's chained down, just like the wolf was last night_. May thought to herself.

"Why are you chained up? Where's the wolf?" May asked, unsure she wanted to hear the answer to it. The boy in front of her stared back at her, a piercing stare filled with anger.

"Look, just get out of here, okay?" he said, impatient. Just then the two teens heard clicking noises.

"Quick, hide! He's back." the boy whispered frantically. May didn't waste time arguing or asking anymore questions, she had figured he was talking about the stranger from last night. May glanced around the room, but there was nowhere to hide, panicking she looked at the green haired boy for an answer. Quickly he nodded to the book shelf, there was a space behind the bookshelf. It was tiny and she was compressed, her body uncomfortably squeezed against the stone walls, but she was out of sight none the less. May hid just in time as the door swung open, and again the menacing voice from before resounded throughout the room.

"Ah! I see you've awaken my little _prince_" the voice teased. The green haired boy growled at the person. "Tch tch tch," the person clicked his tongue, "now that's not how a prince ought to behave."

"Well now my little prince, you seem quit worn." the voice came again, noting the young boy's appearance. Uttering strange words May was unfamiliar with the voice crackled again and a bright light surrounded the green haired boy. May wasn't sure what had happened to him, had what was done to her little brother been done to the boy as well? May gasped she had left her hood containing her little brother's statuette bust out. Moving as slowly as possible, May managed to peek her head out from the corner, luckily the bookshelf was placed in the corner and she wasn't visible to the person in the room. She saw the green haired boy and marveled at how refreshed he looked now. May quickly darted her head back, being careful not to hit the bookcase when she noticed the figure approach the green haired boy.

"Now, that's much better, don't you think, _little_ _prince_?" the voice teased once again. "Ouch, you little brat!" and with that a slapping noise was heard. May didn't know what was going on, she couldn't see and if she stuck her head out again she would surely be seen.

The green haired boy spat to the side, there was some blood in his spit, he marveled at this. His bite had caused his captor to bleed. As his eyes came up from the floor to meet the person's eyes in front of him, the green haired boy noticed something. Quickly he met eyes with his captor to prevent the man in front of him from seeing what the boy had just seen. There on the shelf was a red bundle of cloth. It stood out from the rest of the room and it was unclear why the captor had not noticed it, although the green haired boy was glad he had not.

"Well little prince, until the next full moon." The man said to the green haired boy before leaving the room, slamming the door behind him. May didn't move, even if the person had left there was always the chance of them returning. After sometime the green haired boy spoke up.

"You can come out now." he said, sure that the man from before was gone. Slowly May crept out of her hiding place, she noticed the boy had a small red spot on his face, the place where he was slapped previously. "Over there," the boy said pointing at a desk by the window with his eyes, "inside the third drawer are a set of keys, the copper one opens up my chains."

May looked at the boy and then over to where he told her held the key to his freedom, literally. May moved over to the drawer and pulled out the copper key, quickly unlocking his shackles. The boy rubbed his fists after he was freed. May went over to her red cape and picked it up.

The boy glared at her, "You almost gave yourself away with that. Are you really that much of an idiot?" the boy said.

"Hey, I was rushed and I panicked okay? Besides I just helped you out here." May retorted back, holding the cloth closer to her.

"Whatever, just get out of here. You did your part." The boy said in an arrogant manner.

"You never told me your name." May said in a quiet voice. The boy looked at her quizzically.

"Well, I did free you, I think I should at least know your name." May explained when the boy didn't say anything.

"It's Drew."


	3. Chapter 3

**Little Red**

_**Chapter 3**_

"Well Drew, don't you think you owe me a thank you at the very least." May asked the boy, now that she finally learned his name she was able to address him properly.

"A thank you? I'd say we're even considering I helped hide you from _him_." Drew thought as he shuddered slightly in disgust.

"Speaking of _him_, who is he? And what happened to the wolf, he was…chained up in the same spot you were…" May finished, half knowing the answer to the latter question.

"_He _is an evil sorcerer who collects people's youth to stay young forever." Drew answered as he began to head for the door. May was aware of the fact that Drew had purposefully ignored the question about the wolf, but she needed to know so she asked again.

"And the wolf…" May said, slightly afraid of the answer. The boy stopped in his path to the door and slowly faced the girl.

Drew sighed, his green eyes filled with sadness, "I…" he muttered, "I'm the wolf." as the words left his mouth May's blue eyes widened in shock as he had acknowledged what she feared was true.

"You-" May said, unable to finish her sentence, she didn't know what to say, she was frightened but curious at the same time, she couldn't move. Seeing the fear that had overtaken the girl and how closely she was clutching the red cloth to her chest Drew decided to explain his situation.

"I…I was cursed by the sorcerer so every full moon I turn into a wolf and follow his orders, and _only_ his orders. I don't know how to break it, but…I hope to find a way or at least destroy the sorcerer before he does this to anyone else." Drew finished. "But in my human form I am free to think and act however I want, that is why he would chain me to the wall at the end of the night to keep me from leaving." he added at the end.

After hearing his explanation, May calmed down a bit, but she was now full of questions. "Why not just tell anyone who the sorcerer is? Are there other wolfs that the sorcerer has cursed, like you? What about the statue busts, can it be reversed?" May asked, bombarding the boy with her curiosity, but he sensed a hint of desperation at the last question.

"Who's bust do you have wrapped up in there?" Drew inquired about the statue that the girl seemed to hold tightly to her.

May looked down at the cloth in her hand sadly, tears began welling up in her eyes. "It's my little brother, Max." she replied softly. Drew looked at her with sad eyes, as if he understood her pain.

"Well, I'll be honest with you, I don't know if it's reversible. But he collects a person every full moon, well he _forces_ me to collect them and then he drains them and turns them into statues and keeps himself youthful." Drew turned to the bookshelf at this point, "All those people there," he said staring the statuettes, "they were all living people, just like your brother, at one point. Who knows how old he really is and how long he's been doing it, or even if this all the people he has." Drew said, not looking at the girl.

"Well, why not just turn him in." May said using her free hand to wipe away the tears from her eyes.

"You can't, he's too powerful, both as a sorcerer and as a person. He's the king's top advisor." Drew explained.

"But I'm sure the king will listen." May pleaded.

"Even so, what are the chances we would be able to talk to the king without him interfering?" Drew countered.

"I don't care, I'm going to the king and explaining the whole situation to him." May said as she walked towards the door, gabbing Drew by the arm along the way. "And you're coming with me." She added.

"Do you know how long it's going to take to get to the main city from this dump?" Drew said arrogantly, the attitude the boy seemed to constantly give off was starting to aggravate the young girl.

"I don't care, if there is a way to save my brother from this spell then I will try. Don't you want to be freed from your curse?" May shot back, she didn't understand why the boy wouldn't want to cooperate with her.

"Fine, let's get going to the main city and talk to the king." Drew said sighing, giving into the girl's plan. So the two youngsters headed out of the castle, Drew had managed to talk some flasks and pieces of papers from the castle before leaving. They had found an old sack they used to carry all the items Drew took from the castle.

"What is all of that?" May asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it, just stop asking so many questions." Drew said in an annoyed voice. The boy was quite mysterious about everything, May wanted to know so much, about how he ended up in this situation, what the flasks contained, about the castle, and much, much more. However the boy would have none of it, he glared at her when she tried to inquire about all these details, he couldn't blame her for wanting to know _exactly_ what she was getting herself into, although by now it was too late to get out.

"Wait," May called out, halting the boy in his tracks. They were heading out of the forest but in the direction away from the village, he turned to look at her with a displeased look on his face.

"What?" he said trying his best to control his anger.

"I need to say goodbye to my parents, and maybe even get some supplies for our journey." May said to the boy as she headed towards the village.

He followed after her, catching up to her rather quickly, "And what _exactly_ are you going to tell your parents?" he asked sharply.

"The truth" was all that she replied.

"_Really?_" he asked raising an eyebrow, he was skeptical that they would actually believe her.

"Besides we still need supplies, how long is the journey anyway?" May said as she continued to walk.

"About a month's travel, if we walk." This statement made May stop in her tracks, a month's journey.

"A MONTH?" she yelled horrified.

"Yes, a month," the boy said continuing in the direction of the village, May ran to catch up with him.

"Then we will need a lot of supplies." May said calming down finally, what was a month's journey to the girl? She was there in the Dark Forest walking beside the boy cursed to turn into the wolf on every full moon, trying to save her brother who had been turned into a stone bust, and defeat an evil sorcerer. Suddenly her quiet life in the village seemed so far from her.

As they arrived at the village Drew placed the hood of cloak on, May wasn't sure why, but she did not ask. The boy was particularly grouchy whenever she inquired about his strange actions. When they arrived at her parent's house May's mother and father ran and hugged their daughter.

"May, where have you been?" a worried woman asked the girl. She had brown hair, a lighter shad than her daughter's her eyes were a purple tint and full of worry.

"Caroline, give the girl some room to breathe." came a voice from behind the woman. It was deep and strong but there was a slight hint of relief in it.

"Norman, we've already lost one child, I don't want to lose another." the woman said crying into the arms of the man. He had dark hair and eyes to match, a strong jaw and overall a sturdy physique.

"Now, May, please tell us where you've been." Norman said as he comforted his wife.

May began to explain the whole story to Norman and Caroline as the two listened in horror to what their daughter told them. At the end May pulled out the stone bust of her little brother Max which Caroline, tearfully took from her daughter's hands. When May had finished explaining Norman turned to Drew who still had his hood on and was standing behind May.

"And who is this?" he asked, untrusting of the person who's presence he had ignored initially.

May hadn't explained the curse that was cast upon Drew to her parents, and she felt she shouldn't. Her parents would never allow her to travel with him if she did, or worse they might turn him into the authorities. Even if Drew was the wolf, he didn't do any of the terrible things because he had a choice in it, he did it because he was forced, and he too was a victim of the evil sorcerer.

"He…he was captured…like Max." May began, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for Drew's presence , "He would have been the next victim but I helped get out of there. He's the only one who's seen the sorcerer so he can help identify it." May finished, she didn't want to worry her parents so she didn't tell them that the king's advisor was the sorcerer, it was a difficult task that was ahead of her, and accusing such a powerful person of such a treacherous task was not going to be easy.

Caroline and Norman were reluctant to send their young daughter out on such a dangerous quest by herself, and with a boy whom they did not even know. She was only eighteen, she had not experienced the world, how were they to send such a naïve girl out like this. What concerned Norman the most was the boy that she was traveling with, how was he to know the boy wouldn't take advantage of his beautiful young daughter. She was very innocent and boys at this age, at least he figured he was around her age, were not to be trusted, they were almost like wolves.

Finally they caved in to May's reasoning and allowed her to go, they would tell the villagers that she went off to be with her aunt in another town for some time. They provided her with as much provisions as they could afford, they weren't a very wealthy family, and May left the stone bust with her parents. If something were to happen to the statute it would be impossible to reverse the curse on Max, and he would be lost forever. Gathering all that they could, May and Drew went about on their journey to stop the evil sorcerer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Little Red**

_**Chapter 4**_

Although the journey itself was long, May and Drew had not run into too many troubles. The main reason for this could have been that the young boy always insisted they not camp anywhere near civilization, and whenever they reached a town only May would go in to restock on their supplies. The brunette had noticed that the emerald haired boy would often keep his cloak up, especially when other people were around. The only person who had so far seen his face was May.

"Hey, Drew, why do you always cover your face from people?" May asked curiously as they walked along the path. Drew ignored the girl and continued walking, which annoyed the girl. However, May kept her cool and simply repeated the question. Yet again, the green eyed boy ignored her, this time May did not keep her temper in check.

"Why do you keep ignoring me? It's not that surprising I would ask something like that, you haven't shown anyone your face except to me." May huffed at the boy who kept his back to her.

"It's none of your concerns. How about we worry about more important matters, such as how we would get into the castle once we reach there?" Drew said in a cold manner. May just couldn't understand this boy, they would be traveling together for some time, the least he could do was be kind to her. The continued the rest of the walk in silence.

Drew had raised up a good point, how were they to get into the castle once they reached it? She was a commoner from a small village and he…well, she wasn't sure what his status was, all she knew was that he was a cursed boy, either way things weren't in their favor.

Meanwhile, back at the abandoned castle in the Dark Forest, a tall, lanky figure appeared at the entrance. The sorcerer had felt a strange tingle down his spine and felt he must check upon his 'servant'. As he entered the room the sorcerer was quite surprised, and angry to find his slave not chained up as he had left him.

_"Curses!_ Where did that blasted boy run off to? This is not possible, I had made sure those shackles were secure since the last time he tried to escape." The sorcerer hissed as he paced the room. Then a wicked grin spread across his face, "Stupid boy, I know exactly where you have run off too." He laughed manically tossing wavy purple hair behind his shoulder.

"Well, if you wish to play a game of cat and mouse, I suppose I shall entertain you for a bit. I really don't have much else to do while I wait for the full moon." He said as he waved his hand in front of him. Suddenly a figure appeared in the spot.

"My lord, you summoned me?" the figure asked in a deep voice. The wicked grin on the sorcerer never left.

"Yes, I have. A certain rodent has ran off, I need you to capture him for me. " the sorcerer proceeded to take out a green strand of hair and gave it to the shadowy figure in front of him. "Seek him, and bring him back to me this instance!" he shouted his teal eyes full of vile. Just as quickly as the figure appeared in front of the sorcerer, it had disappeared, tracking the scent of the green strand.

May and Drew continued their pace, unaware that the sorcerer has known of Drew's escape and of his intentions.

"Hey Drew, I have been thinking…" May began.

The green eyed lad smirked at this, "You're telling me that _you_ can actually _think_?" May's blue eyes shot daggers at Drew's back but held her temper in, ignoring his comment, she continued her train of thought.

"Well, see you're right," she tried to continue.

"Wait, say that again," Drew said smugly.

"Oh, shut up." May said still trying to keep her temper in, "Anyways, what exactly are we supposed to do once we have reached the castle. I keep trying to figure out a solution, but I cannot think of anything." She sighed.

"Well, May, just leave the thinking part to me. All you need to do is follow my instructions." Drew said laughing.

May glared at the boy and quickened her pace to match his, turning to him, "Hey, I have other uses besides following your instructions!" she reprimanded the boy.

"Like what?" he asked with mischief in his eyes. May was flustered, she couldn't think of any special talents she held. She had always been pretty common as far as talents were concerned. All her life she had to look out for her little brother and help around the village with whatever tasks were handed her way to make some extra money. She had never stood out much in her village, she didn't have any special skills, and she wasn't the most beautiful girl in her village either.

"It's a secret!" May exclaimed as she stomped away from the boy who chuckled and quickened to keep up with her. As the two walked on, some distance behind them was a swift shadow racing in their direction. There was an evil in the figure's eyes, cold and dark, void of emotions, the figure only cared for fulfilling his assignment, nothing more, and nothing less. He was the perfect soldier, one who did as he was told without hesitation, and those who got in the way of his mission were simply cut down.


End file.
